Dozens of families, mostly from Guatemala, have camped out at the border crossing in Nogales as they wait their turn to seek asylum in the U.S.
Rafael Carranza, The Republic | azcentral.com

From the dome to your home. Ramblings, mutterings, keen observations and things you ought to know out of Helena from the mind of Phil Drake.

LEWISTOWN TALE: Last week we posted a story on issues at the Montana Mental Health Nursing Care Center in Lewistown.

It seems the facility has run afoul of federal regulations, is being fined and has a temporary manager while the state’s permanent manger is also on-site. I tried to stress as much as I could that staff members deserve credit for the job they do. I know I could not do the job.

Reception to the story has been mixed. And I’ve heard more negative comments about the story than good. One person told me the story was "absurd," then hung up and another said I have divided the town.

They sting, but yet I remain convinced it was a story that needed to be done.

IMMIGRATION FORUM: Sometimes I go to events just to go to events, not to report, with the small hope of becoming smarter.

It rarely works.

I attended an immigration forum Thursday at a Helena church put on by Jordon Dyrdahl-Roberts, the young man who quit his state job a few months ago in a dispute over providing the federal government seeking information on immigrants.

Also speaking was Helena Mayor Wilmot Collins, who is a Liberian refugee, and Shahid Haque, an immigration attorney who has the Border Crossing Law Firm in Helena.

I would guess there were about 20-25 people in the room for what I thought was an interesting discussion.

From Mayor Collins I learned that people who come to this country under refugee status undergo a very thorough probe.

“Don’t let anybody fool you, that process is the most detailed and intense in the world,” he said.

He said he nearly backed out, but his wife urged him to see it through.

“Had she not assured me I would not be mayor today,” Collins said. “Becoming an American is not an easy thing.”

Haque, who said he has represented more than 1,000 immigrants in Montana in his 12 years of practice, said the phrase “illegal alien” is intended to be a “dehumanizing term,” which is something I had never thought about.

He also said that some of his work includes helping immigrants who years after living in the United States are not aware of their status. He said many learn this as they apply for Social Security.

Haque talked about a recent incident in Havre where a border patrol agent questioned two women after hearing them speak Spanish. He described the Havre border patrol as “very aggressive.”

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Jordon Dyrdahl-Roberts(Photo: Tribune photo/Phil Drake)

Haque said there seems to be a directive to reject more applications for immigrants wanting to move into the United States.

“It’s not just make-believe, it really is happening,” he said.

Audience members talked about ways to alleviate the public’s fear of immigrants. Some audience members, one who is Native American and another who said she was an immigrant, said they had been yelled at by people for believing they had not entered the country legally.

Dyrdahl-Roberts made a call for action. Saying people needed to bring about change.
“Bravery is not an absence of fear,” he said. “Bravery is doing it anyway.”

ELECTION NIGHT SOIREE: What are you doing June 5? Well, if you’re like me you’ll be covering the primary election from a Great Falls newsroom filled with dank air, poor lighting, more boxes of pizza, glorious pizza, than the world has ever seen and editors hollering “Quit eating pizza and get me those election results!”

But if you’re in Helena, Secretary of State Corey Stapleton will again host a non-partisan election night open house for the public at the state Capitol, starting at 8 p.m. in the Main Hall just outside the doors to the Secretary of State’s Office.

“This is Montana’s election, and I am opening the doors to all Montanans,” Stapleton said in a news release touting the event.

The open house will be close to the election night reporting center. Enter through the main doors at the north entrance. The south entrance will be closed for construction.

Corey Stapleton(Photo: Courtesy photo)

During the 2017 Special Election, Stapleton hosted the first such election night open house in the Capitol.

Maybe they’ll let you stuff a ballot box or two.

TWEETER IN CHIEF: Recently I wrote about the ACLU of Montana telling Sen. Steve Daines not to block folks from Twitter, no matter how vulgar and inappropriate they may be.

Seems like President Donald Trump is in the same boat, but worse (or is it worser?).

A federal judge in New York ruled Wednesday that the president can’t block people from following his Twitter account because the social media platform is a “public forum” protected by the First Amendment, a USA Today story reported.

President Donald Trump speaks to media as he meets with crew and passengers of Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, May 1, 2018. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)(Photo: Carolyn Kaster, AP)